Pedro Martin Ruby – Cigar Review

Pedro Martin is a legendary master blender, whose career began in Cuba and stretched to over 70 years in the industry. The cigars are rolled in Esteli in a factory that employs only 23 rollers owned by Eduardo Fernandez, but is not associated with Tropical Tobacco. Maria Martin is the founder of this new brand and is the daughter of Pedro Martin. She worked as the President of Tropical when it was still owned by her father. When he fell ill in 2001 he sold the company to Eduardo Fernandez. Maria then became the National Sales Manager for Camacho Cigars and helped build the brand until its sale in 2008 to Davidoff. In the spring of 2010 Pedro Martin passed away and this fueled Maria to bring back her father’s legacy. So along with Ammer Cabrera who is the VP and Co-Founder they have begun to introduce the cigars to the world.

Today is the first of 3 cigars from Pedro Martin that we will feature on the site. According to the company, The Pedro Martin Ruby is a medium-plus strength cigar with a Sun Grown Corojo wrapper. The Pedro Martin Ruby line is available in 6 x 60; Churchill (7” x 48); Robusto> (5” x 50); Toro (6” x 52) and a Torpedo (6 ¼” x 52).

Appearance and Construction: The reddish-brown sun grown corojo wrapper is inviting to me as I am a fan of this particular tobacco. There are a few thin veins visible with one that runs the length of the cigar. The roll is exquisite and almost seamless with a simple cap. In the hand the weight of the cigar is as expected for a robusto with no soft spots and a well packed foot. The band is gold and maroon, but for the sake of the cigar we will say it is ruby. The lattice artwork is intricate and has a feel as if it has influences from India.

Pedro Martin Ruby, Foot

Flavors & Notes: The foot of the cigar has a slightly spicy nose with a touch of earth. Once the cap is clipped the cold draw serves up some typical corojo spice that is inviting the flame from my lighter. As we smoke the first third of the cigar the corojo spice makes itself evident from the start. This isn’t your typical pepper, but more like a subtle paprika. The finish of the cigar has wood like qualities to it. As we enter the second third of the cigar the corojo spice begins to die down some, or perhaps we have just adjust to it. The wood notes remain but are joined by a hint of earth and an almost mint like quality. The last third some of that corojo spice comes to the front again, with notes of toast and wood rounding things out with a nice long finish that was kind of nutty.

Pedro Martin Ruby, First Third

Smoking Characteristics: The quality of the tobacco and roll of the cigar really shine through with a perfect burn. The carbon line was razor-thin and revealed a dark ash that held for 1/3 of the stick at a time. The draw was effortless without being loose, and the volume of smoke was just right. The spicy aroma was a nice addition as well. All in all, the cigar really scored well in this section.

Pedro Martin Ruby, Second Third

Conclusion: There seems to be two schools of cigar making or perhaps it is of cigar smoking. The Nu-School mentality of boutique cigars or those who had their origin in it, and the classic traditional cigar of which the Ruby falls into. A well-balanced cigar with some nice corojo spice that left me satisfied. I have no doubt in my mind that I will be purchasing more of these in the future as it as the potential of becoming part of my repertoire.